Guest column: Where is the diversity in celebrations of our history?

Sunday

Apr 28, 2013 at 12:27 AM

LEONARD PELLICER

Many of us in St. Augustine enjoy the wide range of activities and events celebrating the landing of Juan Ponce de Leon on our shores in 1513 and the subsequent founding of our city by Pedro Menendez in 1565. This is a significant time in the rich history of St. Augustine, a fitting time for us to celebrate what has gone before and to take lessons from the past in order to prepare for an even brighter future.

Recently I attended festivities on Matanzas Bay commemorating the landing of Ponce de Leon. Quite a crowd gathered along the seawall to see Ponce and his fellow adventurers row ashore and claim for the king of Spain what was to become North America. After the landing, I followed Ponce and his hearty little band of explorers across the street to the statue erected in his honor and listened to numerous dignitaries remind us of the significant events that had occurred near that place five centuries before. The theme echoing throughout most of the speeches was how proud we St. Augustinians should be of our "diversity."

While I listened to one speaker after another extolling the virtues of diversity in St. Augustine, I looked all around me for some tangible signs of its existence. While the crowd numbered well into the hundreds and probably more than a thousand, I did not observe a single African-American in attendance that day. Very much in evidence, however, was a group of protestors who were actively raising issues related to European conquest and its horrific impact on Native American cultures. One clue to the absence of diversity in the crowd might perhaps be found in the lack of diversity among the lengthy parade of distinguished speakers. As I recall, there were no Native American or African American speakers even though both groups have played huge roles in the history of our state and our city.

I truly believe we have every reason to celebrate our diversity, but I question whether it should make us feel a sense of pride? If one takes the time to look up "diversity" in the dictionary, the words commonly used to define it include the following: variety, assortment, range, array, variation, heterogeneity, contrast and different. It seems to me that diversity should not be regarded as an accomplishment since it is largely the result of serendipity rather than proactivity. As citizens, we haven't intentionally done anything to become diverse; the fact that St. Augustine is a diverse community is simply an accident of history.

Rather than taking pride in being a diverse community, I believe we need to strive to become a more integrated, diverse society. "Integrated" is defined in the dictionary by terms such as: unified, united, consolidated, cohesive and complete. Although we have made significant strides toward becoming a more integrated community since I grew up here a half century ago, we still have a long way to go. Without question, there is a noticeable lack of both diversity and integration in our city and county governments, civic organizations and society in general. Diversity without integration is at best a lost opportunity. In the years ahead, we need to find ways to get beyond our differences so that these differences will no longer divide us, but serve to make us stronger. Striving for and achieving a more integrated, diverse society is an accomplishment in which all the citizens of St. Augustine could take pride. However, achieving this end will require great effort and commitment on the part of many women and men of good will.

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Leonard Pellicer was born and raised in St. Augustine. During his career in higher education, he was recognized on several occasions for his efforts to make educational opportunities more inclusive for minorities and women.

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